Optics
The PVGS50S is equipped with a 680,000-pixel CCD and 10x optical zoom It also features a 700x digital zoom that allows you to zoom in on incredible close-ups.

Digital Stills and MPEG4 Video
The PhotoShot built-in digital still mode is capable of capturing crystal-clear still images at high resolution. It has a high speed shutter when taking photos and can even take progressive phots which can be saved onto the MiniDV tape or to the included 8 MB SD memory card. You can also record MPEG4 video, which uses a higher compression setting and is great for posting to a Web site or e-mailing to friends and family.

Still images and MPEG4 video are stored on the included 8 MB Secure Digital (SD) memory card, and can be transferred to your PC via USB connectivity (compatible with both USB 1.1 and 2.0).

More Features
The picture-in-picture feature allows you to insert a previously taken digital still image into the video that is being recorded, to enhance the aesthetics of the final cut of the video. The cinema mode enables you to record video in wide screen mode, giving you a 16:9 aspect ratio that's the same as a movie screen. When played back on a television the result is dramatic looking cinema-like movies at home.

Other features include:

• 2.5-inch tiltable LCD screen.
• External microphone jacks allow for professional sound recording.
• Remote control features include playback with special effects, zoom, and slow motion.

Inputs and Outputs
The PVGS50S comes with the standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also known as FireWire; Panasonic refers to this connection as iLink) for a super-fast, lossless connection to a PC or other DV machines.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV is the preferred format for personal and broadcast-quality video, highly regarded for its high audio and image quality. With 540lines of horizontal resolution and minimum color noise, MiniDV delivers a 20 percent clearer picture than analog camcorder formats. This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12th the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of 2 full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.